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Dan LeBatard of the Miami Herald followed around Dolphins’ No. 1 pick Jake Long on draft day and it was quite the experience. The question is – is Long ready to help turn around a sinking ship in Miami?

Can Long play? No one knows. I don’t know. You don’t know. Mel Kiper doesn’t know. And Parcells doesn’t know. Rare is the business that spends this much money on something this inexact and unscientific. Long may be bust Robert Gallery or Hall of Famer Johathan Ogden or something in between. There is nothing in sports that has this kind of disparity between how little we know and how much we talk about it. You won’t know if what the Dolphins did Saturday is good or bad for a very long time. Years, maybe. There is nothing guaranteed except Long’s $30 million.

All you can do is hope.

Those six words are what Saturday’s big party was all about.

Actually, that’s five words to many.

All you need is the last one.

Hope, for a betrayed and hostile fan base, is the beginning of the bridge back from sickness to health.

LeBatard is right – no one knows if Long can play in the NFL. Nobody really knows if any of these prospects can play in the NFL. But the Dolphins did make a solid, safe pick and they invested a ton of money (and eventually time) in a young man that’s worth it in my opinion. He’s got a great work ethic and excellent character – he should become a pretty damn good player, too.

One of the more quiet selections towards the end of the second round was the Packers’ pick of Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm. Are the Packers unsettled about Aaron Rodgers being Brett Favre’s replacement?

He’s a great West Coast offense fit because of his smarts, touch, and accuracy. While he doesn’t jump out physically, Brohm fell too far due to system concerns. Aaron Rodgers will be the unquestioned starter this year, but a QB controversy is not far away. It’s a good problem to have and smart to have depth with Rodgers’ durability questions. Keep in mind that Mike McCarthy was not around when Rodgers was drafted.

My thoughts on why the Pack decided to take Brohm in the second (in no particular order):

1. The Packers have absolutely nothing behind Rodgers, so bringing in Brohm will foster competition at the quarterback position and will essentially push Rodgers to have to earn the job in preseason. Sure, Rodgers will be the unquestioned starter, but he’ll now have to earn it.

2. The Packers don’t have a ton of pressing needs and Brohm was arguably the best player left on the board.

3. Here’s the biggie: Outside of a decent relief appearance in Dallas last year, Rodgers has not shown that he can be a caliber starting quarterback. He’s struggled mightily in preseason opportunities and the general consensus seems to be that the Packers aren’t thrilled with his development.

Obviously it’s way too early to tell, but there’s a chance that we’ll look back at this draft and comment how Brohm was the best quarterback in this class. And he was the third signal caller to come off the board.

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Don Banks of SI.com shared his snap judgments from Day 1 of the NFL draft.

• Long live Goodell. The first two rounds of the draft flew by on Saturday, and we’ve got the Commish to thank for that with his new edict for up-tempo picking. Last year’s record first round took an agonizing six hours and four minutes, while the first two rounds this year were done in just 5:50.

Somehow, some way, NFL teams conducted their business more quickly, and the union still managed to survive. Praise be.

• If there was a position that got over-picked, it was offensive tackle, where a whopping eight players went, led by No. 1 overall selection Jake Long of Michigan. Five of the first 17 picks were tackles, counting Albert, the Virginia guard, who was taken by Kansas City and is projected as a left tackle in the NFL.

Nobody I talked to had any quibbles about the first six tackles taken, but many eyebrows were raised around the league by Atlanta trading back into the round at No. 21 with Washington to select USC’s Baker, who was seen as a second-round pick. Even more surprising was Houston taking Virginia Tech’s Brown with the 26th pick that once belonged to both Jacksonville and Baltimore on Saturday.

“Both of those guys, Baker and Brown, they’re not first-round picks,” a league scout told me. “They were second-round tackles. I was shocked by how quickly all those offensive tackles came off the board. I think once Gosder Cherilus went (to Detroit at No. 17), I think some teams panicked and overpaid for a tackle.”

Two excellent points. With the shorten time, Day 1 seemed to have a better pace and was more enjoyable (at least from a fans’ perspective). The shorten time between picks obviously didn’t keep teams from trading, either, which is big because how teams maneuver on draft day is a huge part of the event.

As far as the offensive tackles are concerned, I thought teams reached big time. The trade the Falcons made to get back into the first round and select Sam Baker was ridiculous. But then again, if these tackles pan out, it doesn’t matter how teams got them on draft day – the thing that matters is that they got them.

After flipping back and forth between NFL Network and ESPN on Day 1 of the NFL draft, it’s obvious the NFL Network has the better coverage. It’s just too bad that not every fan has the channel and some are solely stuck with ESPN’s horse manure.

Here are some random thoughts on the draft coverage:

– Biggest analyst blunder: When the Falcons traded back into the first round to select OT Sam Baker, Charles Davis of the NFL Network said, “Is this where they take Brian Brohm and get their quarterback?” Yeah Charles, the Falcons are going to take Brohm to compete with Matt Ryan.

– I’m not a huge fan of Mike Mayock, but he was phenomenal on Day 1. Any time a team traded up in the first or second round, he had a beat on which player they were going to take. He doesn’t have great presence on TV, but the guy knows his stuff.

– My kudos for Mayock comes with a caveat, however, because I think the NFL Network is flat out handed better information. And obviously that makes sense because it’s the league’s network, so one would think they would get more inside than ESPN.

– Hey Keyshawn, not every team needs a wide receiver.

– Hey Rich Eisen, there are other schools in America besides the University of Michigan. I swear I thought he was going to start crying if Mario Manningham fell any further.

– Chris Berman is a shell of his former self. And his stuttering is staggering.

What did you think of the draft TV coverage?

John Clayton of ESPN.com handed out his top winners and losers from Day 1 of the NFL Draft.

Winners:

1. Kansas City Chiefs: The plan was to find a pass-rusher to replace Jared Allen, who was traded to the Minnesota Vikings. The Chiefs made out even better, getting perhaps the best defensive player in the draft, LSU’s Glenn Dorsey, at No. 5. Some feel Dorsey might be the best defensive player to come around in years. Now he’s the anchor of Kansas City’s improving defense. The Chiefs also were able to get the offensive lineman of their choice in Virginia’s Branden Albert, and they got a good break toward the top of the second round when CB Brandon Flowers fell to them. For a team hoping to find five or six starters out of this draft, Day 1 was a bonanza.

Losers:

3. New England Patriots: Thanks to the 49ers’ horrible 2007 season, the Patriots ended up with the seventh pick in the first round. They hated it. It was a horrible spot for the Patriots, a franchise that mastered the team concept.

The seventh pick probably would have received the third- or fourth-highest salary on the team, so it was evident the Patriots would trade down. They dumped the pick to the Saints and got moderate value. With the 10th pick, New England drafted Jerod Mayo, who probably would have fallen to the Redskins at No. 21. Mayo could end up being a Pro Bowler for the Patriots — he’s smart and can play inside or outside. But he’s going to get a max contract worth around $4 million a year. At least the Patriots got out of the No. 7 spot, which would have cost them more than $7 million a season.

I think we’re going to look back on this day and say the Chiefs built a solid core. They got tremendous value from their trades and wound up getting the best defender in the entire draft (Dorsey) and an offensive lineman (Albert) many thought they might take at No. 5. It’s weird to see the Patriots in the “losers” category.

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